MAHARASHTRA: In the arid belts of Solapur district, where most villages face acute scarcity of water and employment and migration is routine, one little villages stands as an exception. The quaint village of ‘Uprai Budruk’ has earned the moniker of ‘Officers’ Village’.

The reason – just name any government post, from bureaucrats like IAS, IPS, and Income Tax officers, to a range of personnel, Uprai Budruk boasts them all, consistently sending its children to government services.

The talent pool in the village, however, has not been achieved in one day, but honed over years of systematic and strategic hard work. And, much credit for this goes to Sandeep Bhajibhakare, presently posted as deputy police commissioner in Pune.

Bhajibhakare father was a farmer, but he always wanted his children to study and become government officers and bring positive change.

“I was a bright child, but I had no specific plans. My father never instructed me to persue this, but he inspired me with his stories of the ‘upright and honest officer’. My father was a 10th pass, but he imbibed important moral values in us,” Bhajibhakre shares.

Securing over 95% in 12th standard, Bhajibhakare decided to pursue his childhood dream of joining administrative service. Finally, having completed his medical studies, in his very first attempt in 2005, he cracked the Maharashtra public service commission exam, becoming an Assistant Commissioner of Police. “Then, in 2008, my sister Rohini cleared IAS. We decided to inspire students who want to join civil services in our village. But how it should be done was the big question,” he says.

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